Omaha native Terence “Bud” Crawford could return to the ring this fall, but the date, location and opponent are all uncertain because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum said in an interview with Boxing Scene this week that he hopes to schedule a fight in September or October. He listed four potential opponents: Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook or Yordenis Ugas.
But there are potential hangups with all of them.
Arum said Pacquiao would be “the first choice” for a fight with Crawford, who currently holds the WBO welterweight title. Arum floated the possibility of a Pacquiao-Crawford fight in April, saying he’s had “tentative talks” with both parties about getting it scheduled.
But that fight would have to be conducted abroad, and though Arum told Boxing Scene that he’s had conversations with potential sites in the Middle East, they’re unlikely to agree to a fight this year because of the pandemic.
Porter, who at different times previously held the WBC and IBF welterweight titles, has often been mentioned as an attractive opponent for Crawford. But Arum said raising enough money to conduct that fight and the expensive purse it would require will be difficult because the fight would likely hav
Ugas, a Cuba-born contender, has never held a major belt and only once challenged for one, losing to Porter in March 2019 for the WBC title. Arum implied it might be more feasible to schedule a fight with Ugas, but “it wouldn’t mean as much” for Crawford.
So that leaves Brook, who held the IBF welterweight title from August 2014 to May 2017. But there’s a problem with him, too. Brook is from England, and there’s currently a travel ban in place restricting non-U.S. residents from entering the country.
“So how do I get Kell Brook over here? I don’t now how to do it,” Arum told Boxing Scene. “But if Kell Brook can tell me how he can get over here, then he would go to the top of the list.”
Brook told Boxing Scene that he would welcome an opportunity to face Crawford. Brook has won three fights since recovering from a broken orbital bone and took home the WBO Inter-Continental light-middleweight title in February. But Brook hasn’t fought as a welterweight since May 2017, when he lost the IBF title to Errol Spence Jr.
Crawford, meanwhile, is probably itching for a fight. His last bout came in December when he knocked out Egidijus Kavaliauskas in Madison Square Garden to retain the WBO title. Crawford had a 10-month layoff before his first fight as a welterweight in June 2018. Since then he’s gone an average of six months between fights.
Arum hopes the travel ban will be lifted by this fall so a Crawford-Brook fight could materialize. He mentioned Las Vegas and Nebraska as possible locations and said it’s possible some fans could be allowed to attend.
